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Imagine a new kind of democracy — one that puts governance back in the hands of the people. This is the idea behind political theorist Hélène Landemore's book "Open Democracy." Contemporary representative democracies, like in the United States, are broken, she says, so why not reinvent popular rule? In a conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic,...
![Christine Matthews 2018](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/57a4aaf6-7f9b-4c4a-a4ff-9334e6543e60/42326103584_db5130d998_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a7c51&q=80&rect=1334%2C0%2C4480%2C4480&w=400)
![Christine Matthews 2018](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/57a4aaf6-7f9b-4c4a-a4ff-9334e6543e60/42326103584_db5130d998_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1334%2C0%2C4480%2C4480&w=400)
Since 2016, we’ve watched women rack up unprecedented wins.
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/0d230bb4-bd00-4d65-b3c6-0b5d0f6a66b2/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/0d230bb4-bd00-4d65-b3c6-0b5d0f6a66b2/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says serving in city council is the best job in politics.
![14714634819 Bbd52f2897 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d92525a3-7f26-4c10-9e3e-77740c922ecb/14714634819_bbd52f2897_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a80bc&q=80&rect=77%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
![14714634819 Bbd52f2897 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d92525a3-7f26-4c10-9e3e-77740c922ecb/14714634819_bbd52f2897_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=77%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
Robert Reich live at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
![Bill Bishop 2017](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/79c5f470-bd2a-4805-a6f0-66d7821eaad6/35262857430_8fc51cc878_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=b78045&q=80&rect=1065%2C0%2C4017%2C4016&w=400)
![Bill Bishop 2017](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/79c5f470-bd2a-4805-a6f0-66d7821eaad6/35262857430_8fc51cc878_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1065%2C0%2C4017%2C4016&w=400)
Trust in civic, religious, and academic institutions is at an all-time low in America.
![48180900462 Ef5bbb0082 O](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null165b3594-cf25-48e9-944b-3c1ce1a92fe3/48180900462_ef5bbb0082_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a7c51&q=80&rect=2586%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=400)
![48180900462 Ef5bbb0082 O](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null165b3594-cf25-48e9-944b-3c1ce1a92fe3/48180900462_ef5bbb0082_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=2586%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=400)
It's already difficult to talk about politics in a polarized United States, but a few choice words are making it even harder.
![Adobestock 352973335](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null881d1115-d321-40ed-92b7-78749aa7d7cf/AdobeStock_352973335.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ab287a&q=80&rect=1689%2C0%2C2162%2C2160&w=400)
![Adobestock 352973335](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null881d1115-d321-40ed-92b7-78749aa7d7cf/AdobeStock_352973335.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1689%2C0%2C2162%2C2160&w=400)
One-hundred years ago this month, women suffragists celebrated the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. Since then, what strides have women made toward gender equality?
![42977780232 0aa2582b91 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/127d9102-2a2c-4e6e-83eb-458f88171fcb/42977780232_0aa2582b91_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
![42977780232 0aa2582b91 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/127d9102-2a2c-4e6e-83eb-458f88171fcb/42977780232_0aa2582b91_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
Ahead of the midterms, what are we hearing about the candidates, the campaigns, and the issues?
![Francis Fukuyama McClosky Speaker Series AITG](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null5d5a6a69-489c-4596-96bd-985acb1a2670/_RS15047.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ab287a&q=80&rect=486%2C0%2C2579%2C2577&w=400)
![Francis Fukuyama McClosky Speaker Series AITG](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null5d5a6a69-489c-4596-96bd-985acb1a2670/_RS15047.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=486%2C0%2C2579%2C2577&w=400)
Liberal democracies are threatened by nationalist populist leaders and identity politics says Stanford professor Francis Fukuyama.
![28246190487 471ec3e1ce H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/218d2354-7eda-4b45-b3d0-2730f488a3eb/28246190487_471ec3e1ce_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=b78045&q=80&rect=268%2C0%2C1279%2C1280&w=400)
![28246190487 471ec3e1ce H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/218d2354-7eda-4b45-b3d0-2730f488a3eb/28246190487_471ec3e1ce_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=268%2C0%2C1279%2C1280&w=400)
What can fix a democracy in crisis?
![adobe stock thanksgiving](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8cc1ed09-8625-4a75-9ae8-1c003c034f04/AdobeStock_182604795.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=4b7780&q=80&rect=1680%2C0%2C3840%2C3840&w=400)
![adobe stock thanksgiving](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8cc1ed09-8625-4a75-9ae8-1c003c034f04/AdobeStock_182604795.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1680%2C0%2C3840%2C3840&w=400)
Current political fault lines are fracturing American society as people grow farther apart from one another due to differing beliefs and opinions. We often see people we disagree with as caricatures, and think we can never reconcile our differences. Yet despite that sense of contradiction we are much closer to each other than we think. To bridge the divide, we have to stre...
![Newt Gingrich AIF 2016](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null73bcb4d4-8cc0-46d4-912d-65b11c1c41d9/14559582452_a1837f0c84_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=405%2C2%2C1023%2C1023&w=400)
![Newt Gingrich AIF 2016](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null73bcb4d4-8cc0-46d4-912d-65b11c1c41d9/14559582452_a1837f0c84_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=405%2C2%2C1023%2C1023&w=400)
Are we seeing a new era in American politics? Two former Republican presidential candidates weigh in
![Adobestock 233782942](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulld395c6f0-8d22-4902-b575-da4e5195ff50/AdobeStock_233782942.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ab287a&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3873%2C3873&w=400)
![Adobestock 233782942](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulld395c6f0-8d22-4902-b575-da4e5195ff50/AdobeStock_233782942.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3873%2C3873&w=400)
Current political fault lines are fracturing American society as people grow further apart from one another due to differing beliefs and opinions. We often see people we disagree with as caricatures, and think we can never reconcile our differences. Yet despite that sense of contradiction we are much closer to each other than we think.
![27804079160 489080a630 O 1](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null1f82cb01-0c1d-4832-a543-9f1ec6fcdb2e/27804079160_489080a630_o1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ab287a&q=80&rect=0%2C1150%2C4912%2C4916&w=400)
![27804079160 489080a630 O 1](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null1f82cb01-0c1d-4832-a543-9f1ec6fcdb2e/27804079160_489080a630_o1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C1150%2C4912%2C4916&w=400)
Joe Biden is a centrist who believes in the power of bipartisanship. To get both sides to listen to each other, he’ll have to break down the barriers created by today’s polarized politics, says New Yorker magazine staff writer Evan Osnos whose latest book is “About Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now.” Osnos speaks with Margaret Brennan of Face the Nation on...
![19246306623 C769356c37 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/dcc73354-3cad-4689-b5ba-2d965c6525c5/19246306623_c769356c37_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=7d247d&q=80&rect=534%2C0%2C1066%2C1066&w=400)
![19246306623 C769356c37 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/dcc73354-3cad-4689-b5ba-2d965c6525c5/19246306623_c769356c37_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=534%2C0%2C1066%2C1066&w=400)
What might we learn from the past about the current state of politics and democracy in America?
![35503092591 9be8e6f154 O](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/1adabda5-14d5-4b94-96e9-677dc50863fa/35503092591_9be8e6f154_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=7d247d&q=80&rect=1642%2C0%2C3378%2C3379&w=400)
![35503092591 9be8e6f154 O](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/1adabda5-14d5-4b94-96e9-677dc50863fa/35503092591_9be8e6f154_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1642%2C0%2C3378%2C3379&w=400)
What advice might other disciplines have to offer the world of politics?
![Adobestock 324285104](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null06b05c01-8b35-4ca9-8cd6-0d30861214de/AdobeStock_324285104.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ac473e&q=80&rect=4002%2C0%2C4002%2C4000&w=400)
![Adobestock 324285104](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null06b05c01-8b35-4ca9-8cd6-0d30861214de/AdobeStock_324285104.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=4002%2C0%2C4002%2C4000&w=400)
It’s time to slow down and start again to remake American culture and undo systemic racism, says author and Yale professor Claudia Rankin. White Americans must wade into the waters of Whiteness, and interrogate their own responses to Blackness.
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c827f515-dafb-4d82-a05d-21318a5e52cc/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=1335%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c827f515-dafb-4d82-a05d-21318a5e52cc/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1335%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
Today’s young people have not seen a lot of good examples of adults working together to solve problems. Generation Z is coming of age amidst daunting issues like climate change, gun violence, and a teen mental health crisis, and trusted adults seem few and far between to many of them. The rift goes both ways — Baby Boomers and Generation X also report distrust and dislike...
![42168663655 74ac555822 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ecac18c1-7dfb-4826-ab0a-c0ffdad1dd48/42168663655_74ac555822_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a7c51&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
![42168663655 74ac555822 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ecac18c1-7dfb-4826-ab0a-c0ffdad1dd48/42168663655_74ac555822_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
In this Takeover episode, two comedians and a writer discuss politics, race, and a changing America.
![The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America 2016](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7e1a3880-7ca5-47ca-822b-ba141134ccaf/27757900170_dd3d8b3128_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ab287a&q=80&rect=998%2C0%2C2634%2C2635&w=400)
![The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America 2016](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7e1a3880-7ca5-47ca-822b-ba141134ccaf/27757900170_dd3d8b3128_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=998%2C0%2C2634%2C2635&w=400)
Michael Eric Dyson on the politics of race and Obama's groundbreaking presidency.